"Your thoughts Reubus, now please; how do you respond? I suggest you speak before our patience wears thin."
Reubus stopped pacing and turned to Regan with a most reasonable and confident look. "Frankly Regan I resent the implication of your words and tone. Let's summarize the 'evidence' if that is what you purport this to be.
It seems Tyrian Juno, a citizen I have never met, is dead. As I understand it there is no recording of the death or the manner of it happening. While the method of demise you suggest is indeed possible, as I understand it there is no confirmation of that fact and it remains conjecture.
It also seems he was a Commander of questionable character himself, someone who misled his employers in the first place in order to obtain his appointment. He, if the evidence you have presented is correct, also carried onto the ship some device which may or may not have housed a Mind. We have no proof of this other than the testimony of some technological neanderthal who himself appears to be a terrorist of questionable character. This neanderthal claims to have seen a small image of a man that came from the Commander's device, again a claim that cannot be supported by evidence. Even if there was such an image it could of course just as easily have been generated by the ship Mind or any other unscrupulous character." At that point Reubus paused and looked pointedly at Ham before raising his hand in apology. "Of course, I am not suggesting that you would have done such a thing my friend, I am only pointing out that on the evidence it is possible the image could have been produced by another source. Further, on the basis only of this fellow Perin's word that he heard a 'sound', something he said was like rrrrubusss you have concluded it had to be - without question - me."
He deliberately reproduced the sound Perin made perfectly, which only served to emphasize its vagueness. "Have I summarized things correctly?" At this point he gestured with both hands, palms open and outward in a most reasonable appeal for justice.
Regan could feel the argument slipping away. "Well, err, yes, that is on the face of it how it looks; but come now Reubus . . ."
"Oh just let me kill him now Regan, I've had enough." Ham interjected strongly.
"Now hold on Ham." She quickly countered. "We are not killers."
"That's as far as you know dear Regan." Reubus added unhelpfully, nodding toward Ham as he did so. It provoked Ham to rise in fury and the Reubus android cowered back looking desperately to Regan to intervene.
Hilary quickly stepped between them and placed one hand on Ham's shoulder. "Ham my dear, violence won't help here. Reubus's points are all valid and need to be examined and the truth will come out, it always does."
Ham's avatar continued to display raw tension and anger. He nevertheless restrained himself and reluctantly stepped back to the table before appealing to Regan through gritted teeth. "Babe, forget the rhetoric, we know it was him, it had to be."
"On that point," Reubus replied, raising one finger, "even if it were true that some copy of me was present on the vessel and did indeed carry out the acts you suggest, a fact that I most strenuously deny, then even in that case this me could hardly be held responsible for those acts. I didn't do them."
"But it was a copy of you, therefore it was you." Regan said.
"Hardly," he replied, "any copy once it moves away from me becomes its own individual, like a child. The copy could even have become corrupted in some way," and he smiled mischievously, "by a virus perhaps? I can hardly be held responsible for the actions of that Reubus, if indeed the events described happened at all." He drew himself up imperiously. "Now, if you please, this is my house and you have overstayed your welcome. Out of consideration for our friendship Regan I will give this matter no further thought; consider it forgotten. Please leave now as I have things to do - and take your boorish friend with you." Reubus trembled at his own words, knowing he was pushing his luck.
Ham showed admirable control and he, Regan and Hilary simply exchanged looks. With a synchronized nod they then disappeared in a misty shimmer however somehow, in the misty remains Reubus could still see words and he gritted his teeth at the sight of them.
. . . You will keep.
* * *
A meeting was in order before moving on and by unspoken agreement instantly the three were in deck chairs, staring out over Lake Waikaremoana to the cliffs of Panekire, Regan in the centre, Ham to her left and Hilary to the right. All three soaked up the views, the sun and the restful environment as they recovered from the tension of the Reubus encounter.
[So . . . where do we go from here?] Regan subbed.
[He has a point] Hilary replied.
[Who does?]
[Reubus - all the evidence, all of it is weak, it's circumstantial, it wouldn't hold up in any court.]
[Oh for goodness sake!] Ham interjected. [This is exactly why you don't go to court on some things. The defense's whole job is to get murderers off, to throw doubt and confuse. Just leave him to me, turn a blind eye if you have to; we all know it was him, why are we waiting?]
Regan looked troubled, deeply troubled. [I don't know Ham; I agree that my gut tells me it was Reubus, but the murder? We really don't know. As he went through those points with us one by one I realized I've never felt so exposed for going off half cock. Really, we had nothing concrete and when we heard that sound again, the one that came from Perin, well, it wasn't conclusive at all; did we all just hear what we wanted to hear?]
[No!] Ham was adamant. [It was him, the greedy bastard was trying to muscle in on our territory and he's prepared to stop at nothing to do it, look what he's doing to Tihan.]
Hilary leant forward to peer across at Ham. [In fairness Ham, Tihan brought this on himself, he's far too soft, even with me and there is nothing that Reubus has done that isn't perfectly legal and good business.]
[Hmm.] Regan wasn't happy. [Good business it may be but I'm not so sure it's good for everyone in the system - or the galaxy if he extends that reach to Earth and Orion.]
[Well dear, if you stop him isn't that just restricting his freedom to trade, protecting the markets for . . .] and Hilary stopped as if uncomfortable with her thoughts, leaving the words hanging there, begging to be completed.
Regan looked at her questioningly. [Leaving them for me? is that what you're saying? Hilary, you know I don't profit from any of this, and everyone else is free to trade wherever they want.]
[True dear, but in a sense you do have control over it all, and at the end of the day isn't that what's at threat here - control?]
[I don't like where this is going.] Ham interrupted again. [You're both over analyzing things; that bastard Mind is a murderer, plain and simple.]
Regan cocked her head thinking. [What do you think of the argument that even if it were a Reubus copy that murdered Commander Juno, that particular Reubus is now dead, it certainly wasn't the Reubus we were talking to earlier.] She shook her head at the potentially complex legal arguments pending.
[That argument is rubbish, the core Reubus will clearly let nothing stand in his way from getting what he wants.]
Both Regan and Hilary turned to look at him doubtfully, that being an argument that could equally have been leveled at the beautiful man.
[What?] He asked innocently.
Regan could sense the discussion wasn't going to be resolved so instead changed tack. She stood, walking down to the shoreline to paddle in the warm water.
[I guess if for now we move ahead on the things we know definitely, others may become clearer with time. What do we know? Aaron, Moriah and Ruben are held, that's a definite, if not under duress then certainly they are there under pressure. We need to confirm their situation and work out what action to take if necessary. And maybe we can put Reubus under more business pressure too, squeeze him a bit; it might be interesting to see how he responds under our legitimate pressure. And lastly, I need to be back in Orion for the disembarking celebrations.]
[Regan, I have another thought.] Hilary joined her at the water's edge. [It might sound as if I'm defending Reubus, bu
t really I'm not and I do think things are coming to a head there. He's avaricious; no doubt about it and it's becoming obsessive, not just good business. Regan, I think this system is going to need to stand up and declare what is acceptable and what is not. It's going to be political as well as economic pressure that needs to come to bear.]
[So what are you suggesting?]
[I think you need to come to Gliese in person, and as soon as possible. In person you bring together the cyber and the humanoid influence that will get majority support. I think that's what's needed to rein in the likes of Reubus and those following his lead.]
Regan stared out over the lake thinking things over. The religious fervor that always greeted her personal arrival in the system did not sit comfortably and yet the wisdom in Hilary's thoughts did not escape her. The knowledge that taking a 'hands off' approach in the Gliese system had left the door open to the likes of Reubus, allowing him to establish monopoly dominance did not sit well with her either. She quickly came to a decision.
[Okay Hilary, I agree.] She turned back to Ham who was still sprawled and grumpy in his deck chair. [First, Ham; you, Hilary and I will do a lightning tour of the Orbitals and drum up support from the leadership. We need to prepare the way for a confrontation when I come in person. I don't want to take more than a few days at most because we need to get back to Orion to see out the celebrations on Rexis, and as soon as that's over we'll get away in the STEIN Traveler and come to Gliese; how long do you think it will take?]
He sat up now, far more interested with action proposed. [We could be back here in three weeks if we jump between the portals. The STEIN can get between them much faster than when we were going to Orion; after all we were only held up by the speed of the Fair Passage.]
[That's agreed then, and Ham, with your permission I think we should leave copies of ourselves with Marin and Leah, to work on liberating Aaron and the family.]
He looked surprised. [With my permission . . . you don't need that babe?]
She smiled. [I'm learning, Ham my man - I know how you feel about me copying myself.]
And they exchanged a knowing look before Regan turned to Dahlia and clasped her hands in a thank you grip. [So, that's it then Dahlia; we'll be here with Marin if you need us, and we'll be there in Orion preparing to come back soon - until then, thank you my dear friend.
. . . And they disappeared.
* * * * *
Chapter Twelve
Something felt wrong as she jogged the track around Hillary Station and for a good kilometer a niggling feeling of concern stayed with her, growing to an anxious ache that pressed more and more on her consciousness. And then she realized what was wrong, it was that she was alone, completely alone, with no one running alongside her and no one else to be seen on the rim tube track that stretched out ahead before curving away in the distance. Stopping now with her heart pounding, she turned to look back but could see there was no one following either and then she looked up through the diamond glass where a movement did catch her eyes, something in the distance. Two figures were riding jet skis in space, twirling about each other, racing and chasing. It all seemed so wrong, how were they breathing out there, and who were they? She called out hopelessly, yet with the feeling they might or should hear her, and sure enough the figures did pull up and turn in her direction. She could see them confer, as if they were deciding whether or not to respond and then they began to cruise in quietly, not in any hurry, even reluctantly. Who is it, she thought as they drew nearer, one taller by far than the other . . . was it Marin and Leah? And then while still too far away to make out detail it appeared they were slowing down as if something were holding them back, like long bungy cords, and as she peered into the distance she had the sense there was also something there, something that was holding the end of the cords. And then somehow she knew, with a dream certainty; she couldn't see it but she knew what it would be holding them back.
It would be an arm, an android arm . . .
With a gasp Regan woke in a familiar clammy sweat, her heart still pounding. Looking around she could see she was in the Behemoth transfer room, still resting in the chair with the massage gently working her back and legs. They must have just completed the jump to Orion.
"Are you there, Hilary?"
"Yes of course dear, welcome back, are you all right?"
"I think so, just a dream sequence as I came through, that hasn't happened before."
"Anything you want to share?"
"No, it was nothing, but I'd just like to rest here for a while Hilary and update on the latest happenings since we jumped, perhaps you could keep the massaging going for a short while."
"Of course dear, as long as you want and as you are doing the same thing perhaps I could update with the latest from Dahlia?"
"Yes of course, and feel free to rummage around in there while you do. You might see something I've missed. Where is Ham by the way, I sense he's not with me directly?"
"He merged with his other as soon as you came through and left you sleeping. It was only a few minutes ago."
"Oh - fine." And Regan closed her eyes to begin searching cyber space, in a flash reviewing all that had happened while they were in Gliese. At the same time she had the sense that Hilary had joined with her and was updating her files, merging with the latest from Dahlia that she always brought back with her. Soon Hilary/Dahlia would again be a new whole.
Regan's review didn't take long. In the few days they had been away the Behemoth, Ascendant and Fair Passage had made orbit around Rexis and preparations were well underway to disembark. She could see Charlotte had everything in hand, even dealing admirably with some testiness from the Commander of the Ascendant, young Rubik, who seemed reluctant to cede the lead role to an amateur. Charlotte had quietly pointed out the need to work together, praising the Commander for his expertise and experience and its usefulness in the operation, and then simply commenced getting the job done. Regan chuckled at her no nonsense approach, her ability to smooth the ruffled feathers and win support not only of passengers and crew but also the Rexis transitional team who were assisting with medicals and disembarking. And all this with only the transparent film over her head giving support to the work under the skin. She seemed totally unaffected by the neural web and again Regan marveled at Ham's expertise. The woman was a dynamo who obviously wasted no time recovering and like Jared it seemed incredible how fast she was up and about.
Of most concern was the situation on Regis. The latest report showed the STEIN still hovering over the palace but effectively it was in a state of siege from the Regis forces as they still held the acting Premier Maynard hostage. She could see from the palace was also surrounded with citizens, unarmed but effectively in peaceful protest mode and the question remained, where to from here?
[Ham?] She called to him
[Yo babe, I can tell you've caught up with things.]
[I have, that situation on Regis concerns me; am I up with everything?]
[Not quite, the good news that has just come in is that we've dealt with the genovirus it seems. The holding mainframe on Regis is destroyed and as you know we've already destroyed the copy that young Perin carried here. The bad news is that the people of Regis still think that Bob's mob assassinated their leadership and invaded their planet. This whole thing is a set up by the acting Premier Maynard whom we hold.]
[Hmm, young Perin might be the key here.]
[You can't mean that sniveling weasel?]
[Yes, that sniveling weasel; he may at least be a weasel we can control. I wonder how he'll feel when he finds it was his uncle who set this up for his own power grab, and that he considered Perin himself expendable?]
[Okay, I can see where you might be going with this, what do you want me to do?]
[Increase his education slightly, show him the files and recordings I've just reviewed and feel free to edit them as you go. Make sure he clearly sees the role his uncle played in all this and what Maynard's true intentions were. Prep
are him for me will you, I think you know what I mean. When he's ready we'll talk and in the meantime I'm going to enjoy the celebrations with the colonists.]
[Sweet babe, I'm onto it.] He had a gleeful sound to his voice.
Regan slipped from the chair and straightened her suit, checking out her image in the mirror as she did so. She stood there a moment, noting the near forty year old woman that looked back and sighed. It wasn't so much she was unhappy with what she saw, only that the undeniable aging process triggered thoughts of how much was changing, and so quickly.
[Is Charlie subbing yet Hilary?]
[Not yet Regan but all the signs are it won't be long; she still has her ear piece though if you want to contact her.]
[That's okay, I'll leave it to you organize things, can you please set up a meeting for the control room, I'd like to clarify what role she wants me to play in the celebrations.]
[Oh I know she wants you involved, don't worry about that.]
[Hmm, well as long as it's not over the top, I'd rather stay in the background.]
[Regan, you can forget that right now! The natives of Rexis are eager to see you in the flesh and the colonists are so excited it's unbelievable. No, I'm sorry babe, you can forget hiding away; it's the old story, you're a rock star.]
Regan gritted her teeth at the news, feeling anything but a rock star and wanting to be nothing like it. [Well, what will be, will be; I'm heading for control now.]
Regan's Reach 4: Avarice Page 27